'Qawwali weaves many voices into one,' says Puranchand Wadali

'Qawwali is all about making connections, making bridges. Finding many voices saying similar things. Like Kabirji asks us to learn from the ways of the weaver, who doesn't like to break threads. Rather, he loves joining them together' - Puranchand Wadali

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In the year 2003, as part of our research into diverse traditions that revere the poetry of Kabir, we arrived in the city of Amritsar in Punjab. While a winter chill gave a nip to the air, we sat on the terrace of the renowned Sufi singer, Puranchand Wadali ji, who regaled us with evident delight with stories and poetry from the traditions of Sufis and other mystic poets.

Ustad Puranchand Wadali is the elder of the two ‘Wadali brothers’, famous Sufi singers from Guru ki Wadali, a village in Punjab. They are the fifth generation of line of folk musicians. The poetry of Sufis such as Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusro and Baba Farid lie at the heart of their songs, which cut across geographies and platforms. For their contribution to music, they were awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1992) and Tulsi Award (1998). Ustad Puranchand Wadali was awarded the Padma Shri in 2005.

Puranchand Wadali did not want to be a singer. He was instead fascinated by wrestling, and would spend his days at the village akhara practising the sport for 25 years. Despite his reluctance, and because of a strict father who insisted on it, Puranchand found his way into music. He trained under Pandit Durga Das and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb, and also picked up music from the renditions of the Kanjaris. He became a guru to his younger brother Pyarelal and ever since their first public performance in 1974, the two have always performed together. Contact them through their manager Yogesh at 9888363667.

(Click on Settings for subtitles in English.)

This is one of a series of uploads for Ajab Shahar, a webspace dedicated to mystic poem and song, created by the Kabir Project team (http://www.ajabshahar.org ; http://www.kabirproject.org).

Translation: Shabnam Virmani & Prashant Parvataneni

Video Credits:
Interview by: Shabnam Virmani & Tara Kini
Camera: Shabnam Virmani
Editing: Sharanya Gautam
Sub-Titling: Prashant Parvataneni
Collection: Kabir Project

Place: Guru ki Wadali, Amritsar
Year of Recording: December 2002

Видео 'Qawwali weaves many voices into one,' says Puranchand Wadali канала ajab shahar - kabir project